Computers fail

[sundiego]

😛 computers are working fine in sandiego hahahah get a better IT people .

 

[AstroLounge]

Did they not test adequately? Or did they know what would happen and not care?

TEST ADEQUATELY.....we are talking about the Business Casual folks in the "Bat Cave" in the desert. Everything they do is Hit or Miss....."if it works great, if not oh well piss on them- We'll try something else".

 

[BoeingBoy]

I guess the definition of a meltdown depends on one's personal preference, but with BOS, LGA, PHL, and DCA running at 30% or less O/T departures during the 9am - 12noon time period and CLT at 15%, it's probably coming close.

Jim

 

[BuffaloJoe]

So LCC should not have tried to combine computer systems and should keep two separate systems running, just to avoid the headaches of integration and the inherent risk that glitches will occur during integration?

What they should have done was do this in stages. They should have done each HUB on seperate weekends and small cities another time. You do it all at once, bam, your hit with all this mess. Doing it in stages allows one area to keep moving, make a schedule of flights that use 1 HUB or the working HUBS. IE: Crews and Planes in CLT do flights to all the cities except the one that being cutover "That" weekend. Stagger the smaller cities dates. Plus that is where they should have started in the first place, the out stations. It would be mostly two months time to get it all completed. Plus by doing the out stations first, they SHOULD learn of the problems that will pop up. Integrating does not have to be done all at once, just takes planning. 1st Planning has to work on the schedules how they are going to do it, then crews get scheduled around that accordingly. The Cutover cities that are being done stay within themselves for that weekend. This way they can minimize any inconviences to its customers. But it takes planning and time. And an IT Dept. that knows what they are doing. But hopefully it will just be One bad day.

 

[FlyUs]

some of you are too dramatic. I remember when Sabre was introduced and all of the weight and balance snafus that occured. At least that part of the operation seems to be working okay.

 

[flytchick]

We flew from BDL to PHX this am - took about a 30 minute delay in boarding since pax were stuck in the security line. One passenger did not have a seat assignment - the other 20 or so had had written boarding passes, the other 80 had pre-printed boarding passes. Landed 10 minutes early in PHX and agent that met the flight said everything was up and running here. PAC lines not full. Not sure about CLT or other places but PHX seemed to be OK at 9:30 am local.

 

[700UW]

Of course everything would be working in PHX, they did not cutover, they are all ready on SHARES.

 

[N903AW]

Flew out of FLL this morning on the 0650 departure to PHX...full 757 (returning Cruise passengers). We took a minimal delay (about 15 minutes), but overall things seemed very smooth. Only 1 seat dupe on a full 757 (we were expecting much worse) that was quickly rectified by the ground staff in FLL.

We asked if they were online with the new system (they were) and allowed them to board early just in case there were any hiccups during check in or with the gate computer systems.

Overall, from FLL, things went well and the gate agents there were wonderful and did an outstanding job.

 

[MarkMyWords]

What they should have done was do this in stages. They should have done each HUB on seperate weekends and small cities another time. You do it all at once, bam, your hit with all this mess. Doing it in stages allows one area to keep moving, make a schedule of flights that use 1 HUB or the working HUBS. IE: Crews and Planes in CLT do flights to all the cities except the one that being cutover "That" weekend. Stagger the smaller cities dates. Plus that is where they should have started in the first place, the out stations. It would be mostly two months time to get it all completed. Plus by doing the out stations first, they SHOULD learn of the problems that will pop up. Integrating does not have to be done all at once, just takes planning. 1st Planning has to work on the schedules how they are going to do it, then crews get scheduled around that accordingly. The Cutover cities that are being done stay within themselves for that weekend. This way they can minimize any inconviences to its customers. But it takes planning and time. And an IT Dept. that knows what they are doing. But hopefully it will just be One bad day.

As Bob said, you can't pick and chose specific areas or cites to "migrate" at different times. It was an all or nothing proposition.

Comprehensive testing has been going on in all phases of the operation since December. None of the testing showed a problem with kiosks making the transition. Obviously, some sort of snafu must have cropped up in the transition process.

 

[ALCARLOS]

I've been told that airline Rez systems are amoung the most complex systems out there.

I concur that any airline Rez system is compley. However, this is what they do for a living, I expect them to do it well.

The job of a Medical Surgeon and many other occupations are very comples. It should not be OK for the IT folks to not be excellent in their field.

 

[OldGuyinPA]

Qik is a nightmare that just won't go away. Most stations preprinted bagtags and boarding cards to get thru the days flights, to give the customer some resemblance of normalcy. Kiosks aren't working, etc....

Typical though of America West...You can always count on lots of food to placate agents. Just doesn't seem to work.

What is amazing is how many America West agents struggle to use their own system. Is that because a lack of training, or just a lousy system. The system is free, or as they say supported inhouse. Unfortunately you get what you pay for.....

Sabre was a much more sophisticated system, and it will greatly missed.

Thank god, weather wasn't a factor today.

 

[barbeetantrums]

Typical though of America West...You can always count on lots of food to placate agents. Just doesn't seem to work.

That is an old AWA standby. Used to work wonders. Natives get restless... serve them some bratwursts... shuts them up and back to normal until something else ticks them off. Then it's burgers, sandwiches, hot dogs... Best to tell them to shove their burgers up their rectum.

 

[LCC_#1]

From what I have read so far the big problem is the kiosks not online fast enough.

But I would hardly call it a meltdown.

Oh no.... only two hour waits, missing flights, angry customers, no communication because we are at skeleton staffing....would BREAKDOWN be more appropriate?

Once again the arrogance of Tempe has come back to bite them on their butts. ANYONE that lived thru the US/PI merger and the Sabre transition saw this coming a mile away. Because of the cockiness of the IT dept, there were no CLEAR warnings to the public. Had we let customers know 1-2 weeks in advanced, they would not be so piissed off but no, there will be few glitches.

What is it said? A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. In this case. the IT dept. is neither. :down:

So LCC should not have tried to combine computer systems and should keep two separate systems running, just to avoid the headaches of integration and the inherent risk that glitches will occur during integration?

No Bear, many of us warned that this would probably happen. Give the customer some notice and let the CUSTOMER CHOOSE if they would rather wait until things are normal...say next year. 😛

Seriously, alittle honesty goes a long way. This industry will NEVER learn. <_<

 

[flytchick]

Of course everything would be working in PHX, they did not cutover, they are all ready on SHARES.

What I meant to say was that I was not seeing a problem with connecting passengers from other cities, i.e. Pac lines..........

 

[FutureUScapt]

Delays have to be expected on the first day of the cutover; I say give it a few days before we start blaming Tempe.

Also, I did find this on the website - I'd be willing to bet it has something to do with the cutover:

US Airways is unable to sell United® code share flights online between March 4 and approximately March 17. You’ll be able to book United® code share flights starting around March 17, 2007. Your existing code share reservations and mileage accrual on United won’t be affected and will continue to be accessible online. You can change a seating assignment or view flight information for existing code share reservations on United Airlines operated flights.

Call our reservations center at 800-428-4322 to book travel that includes one or more US Airways flights operated by United Airlines. Also, some reservations with code share flights operated by United may not be eligible for Web Check-in. Use the airport kiosks or ticket counter to check in for your connecting United-operated flight.